Battle of the Pyramids

The Battle of the Pyramids (21 July 1798) was a battle of the French Revolutionary Wars that occurred when the 20,000-strong French army of Napoleon Bonaparte held off attacks from the 25,000-strong Mameluke army of Murad Bey and Ibrahim Bey at Embabeh on the outskirts of Cairo. The French used their artillery to fire grapeshot at the advancing Mameluke infantry and cavalry, and the French troops formed infantry squares to hold off Mameluke cavalry charges, inflicting heavy losses on the Mamelukes. Murad Bey and the remnants of his army fled to upper Egypt, and Napoleon was able to conquer the Mameluke capital of Cairo. The battle exposed the military and political decline of the Ottoman Empire, and it became one of Napoleon's most famous victories.